


Inhale. Exhale. Despair.

by cadaveres



Category: Bungie Destiny, Destiny (Video Games), Destiny - Fandom, Destiny 2 - Fandom, Destiny Forsaken
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Metafiction, Other, headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 07:24:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15635988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cadaveres/pseuds/cadaveres
Summary: Musings on possible character reactions for Forsaken's story line.The Guardian finds Cayde-6's body lying cold on the ground.





	Inhale. Exhale. Despair.

**Author's Note:**

> I had promised myself I would not continue looking into Forsaken because of pain, but here I am breaking my promise, so all of you must suffer too. 
> 
> Con/crit greatly appreciated. 
> 
> Mindfulness meditation is a real technique for counseling that I very much despise because I just can't make it work for me. It is overly simplified on the fic.

It was curious that the first thing you had thought of were Ikora’s lessons on meditation. Her futile attempts at helping you think logically instead of emotionally.

You found him sprawled across the floor, both hands outstretched to one side, fingers only a few inches away from what he had tried to reach for in his last moments. He had tried to protect it, but the shell of his Ghost lied just across from him, lightless. He had failed.

At first, you could not move. Your feet glued to the ground, eyes fixated on the bodies before you. A heavy silence fell between you and your Ghost and you felt your throat tighten around a scream that was threatening to escape at any given moment. You doubted the reality of it and even hoped you had simply entered a simulation conjured by the Vex. They didn’t like his meddling with their technology, after all; it made sense for them to simulate his death. 

_“Focus on your breathing. It will help you ground yourself.”_

It was the soft gasp of disbelief coming from your side that brought you back to reality. You turned to your Ghost, lips slightly parted but no words coming out. “T-this is real,” he confirmed. 

_Inhale._

In a matter of seconds, you were on your knees, pushing the empty Ghost shell close to his chest and hoping that just enough light had remained there, at least for a final life. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do.” 

_Exhale._

You felt the grief wash over you when you did not see the light engulf them. The scream never came, instead you leaned your head against his lifeless chest and took rapid, raspy breaths. Your hands burrowed into his cloak, clinging desperately to an empty shell. He was gone. **Gone** gone, like the many who had lived their last lives after the Traveler’s light was stolen. “Commander Zavala is on the line,” your Ghost muttered, trying his best to remain calm because he knew you couldn’t. 

_“Focus on what surrounds you. What you hear, what you see, what you feel.”_

A surge of light violently pushed through your body and you slammed your fists against the floor. “Guardian. Please,” your Ghost urged you to regain composure, but any semblance of it was completely lost. You lashed; lightning ran through your fingers and lifted you from the air, burning the bodies of the Fallen you had killed on your way to him. You blamed yourself. You could have been faster; you could have been stronger; you could have done so many things; instead you were there far too late and of him there were only remains. In a blink, the light was gone; you fell on your knees again, your hands still clenched. Still seething.

_Inhale._

Your Ghost approached cautiously, its optic focused intently on you. “Do you want me to tell him?” he asked, each of his words pronounced with as much tact as he could muster in such a situation. You dug your fingernails into the palm of your hands and shook your head. “I’m sorry.” 

_Exhale._

You stood up slowly, brushed off the debris from your armor, and turned back to face your Ghost. Your fingers grazed the side of its shell and you nodded at him in appreciation. 

_Inhale._

You had little time to think of what to say; the vile rising from your throat made focusing on talking all the more difficult. “I won’t leave his body,” you paused in shock of what you had blurted out and you could hear Zavala’s own voice straining as he asked for you to repeat what you had said. The thought of him cold on the floor made it all more impossible to bare and the scream caught at the back of your throat was finally free. 

Shared laughter over weird blueish drinks, the furtive brushing of hands, sneaking through the hangar on those small escapades, secret stashes of silly things only the two of you understood. 

_Exhale._

“Guardian.” You could hear his own voice straining. 

“I’m sorry.” You took a heavy breath, remembering little parts of the meditation techniques Ikora had tried to teach you. 

_Inhale._

“Guardian, are you alright?"

“He’s-he’s death.” 

_Exhale._

_Inhale._

“Cayde-6 has fallen.” 

_Despair._


End file.
